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Remembering New Delhi gang-rape victim

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They are alleged to have raped a woman on a bus, leaving her with fatal injuries

The victim's father says he supports naming a tougher anti-rape law after her

Bar association leaders in the district where it happened urge lawyers not to take defendants' case

The men accused in the gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old Indian woman were formally charged with murder, rape and kidnapping in a New Delhi court Thursday, a senior police official said.

The attack on the woman, who died from her severe injuries last week, has appalled and enraged many Indians, prompting widespread debate over the way the country handles sexual assaults and the treatment of women in Indian society.

Numerous protests have taken place, new laws have been proposed and senior lawyers in the court district where the accused men have been charged say they will not represent them.

Police submitted charges against five suspects before a new fast-track court in Saket, a southern district of New Delhi, said Suman Nalwa, deputy police commissioner of a special unit for women and children.

He said authorities were waiting for the outcome of a bone marrow test before deciding whether a sixth suspect in the attack, believed to be a minor, will be charged as a juvenile or an adult.

Photos: India rape protest 29 photos

Photos: India rape protest29 photos

India rape protests – An Indian activist gets his head shaven in protest against the Dehli gang-rape in New Delhi on Friday, January 4. A gang of men is accused of repeatedly raping a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi. Police formally charged the five suspects with rape, kidnapping and murder after the woman died.

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India rape protests – Indian lawyers shout during a protest at the entrance to Saket District Court in New Delhi on Thursday, January 3.

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India rape protests – About 600 guitarists play John Lennon's "Imagine" in a tribute to the rape victim in Darjeeling on January 3.

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India rape protests – Indian women take part in the Women's Dignity March in New Delhi on Wednesday, January 2. Several hundred people participated in the solidarity march organized by the government, which ended at Rajghat, the memorial for Mohandas Gandhi.

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India rape protests – Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, center, participates in a group prayer during the Women's Dignity March on January 2.

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India rape protests – Indian demonstrators perform a prayer ritual in memory of a gang-rape victim in New Delhi on Monday, December 31. The family of the victim said they would not rest until her killers are hanged as they spoke of their own pain and trauma over a crime that has united the country in grief.

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India rape protests – A Sri Lankan opposition United National Party activist places her signature on a banner in memory of the Indian gang-rape victim in Colombo on December 31.

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India rape protests – Indian protesters hold candles during a rally in New Delhi on Sunday, December 30, following the cremation of the gang-rape victim.

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India rape protests – Indian protesters walk with police officials during a rally in New Delhi on Sunday, December 30, following the cremation of a gang-rape victim in the Indian capital. The 23-year-old student died Saturday and was cremated at a private ceremony, hours after her body was flown home from Singapore. She had been gang-raped and severely beaten on December 16, triggering an outpouring of grief and anger across India.

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India rape protests – Indian protesters sit by lit candles and hold placards in New Delhi on December 30 during a protest against the gang rape.

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India rape protests – Indian residents pray during a gathering in New Delhi on December 30.

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India rape protests – Protesters hold candles during a vigil in New Delhi on Saturday, December 29, after the death of a gang-rape victim. Authorities erected security barriers throughout New Delhi's key government district after two days of street battles following a woman's gang rape on a bus on December 16. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm and pledged safety for women and children.

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India rape protests – Indian residents hold lighted candles during a rally in Amritsar on December 29.

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India rape protests – Students in New Delhi on Thursday, December 27, protest a recent brutal gang rape in the city.

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India rape protests – Demonstrators shout slogans and wave placards as they move toward India Gate in New Delhi on December 27.

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India rape protests – Riot police keep watch along a sealed-off road near the India Gate monument on Monday, December 24, in New Delhi after weekend clashes between protesters and police.

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India rape protests – Police fire tear gas on Sunday, December 23, during a protest calling for better safety for women following last week's rape. Thousands of protesters defied a ban on demonstrations in New Delhi on Sunday, venting their anger about the incident.

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India rape protests – Police attempt to disperse protesters on December 23. For a second day, demonstrators were blasted with water cannons in the Indian capital. While some dispersed, others huddled tightly in a circle to brave high-pressure streams in the cold weather.

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India rape protests – Demonstrators turn a car over on December 23.

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India rape protests – Students chant anti-police slogans during a protest against the Indian government's reaction to recent rape incidents in India, on Saturday, December 22, in New Delhi, India. The demonstration was prompted by wide public outrage over what police said was the gang-rape and beating of a 23-year-old woman on a moving bus in the capital last Sunday.

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India rape protests – Demonstrators react from tear gas fired by police on December 22. New Delhi alone reported 572 rapes last year and more than 600 in 2012.

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India rape protests – Police arrest a demonstrator during a protest on December 22. Sunday's attack sparked furious protests across India, where official data show that rape cases have jumped almost 875% over the past 40 years -- from 2,487 in 1971 to 24,206 in 2011.

The results of the test, intended to determine the suspect's exact age, should come soon, Nalwa said.

The trial will begin this week once all the evidence is gathered, he said.

As well as counts of murder, kidnapping and rape, the men face charges including voluntarily causing harm during a robbery, armed robbery with murder, and destruction of evidence. If convicted, several of the offenses are punishable by death or life imprisonment.

The victim, whose name has not been released, died Saturday in a Singapore hospital, where she received treatment after being airlifted from New Delhi.

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The men are accused of assaulting the woman and her male companion on a bus in the Indian capital on December 16, robbing them of their belongings before dumping them at the side of a road, police said.

CNN iReporter Meera Vijayann, a consultant for a non-governmental organization from Bangalore, India, said sexual harassment is a daily problem for women -- but it was the horrific nature of the New Delhi attack and the brazenness of the alleged perpetrators that frightened so many people.

Despite calls for harsher punishments for those who carry out such crimes, Vijayann feels only a change in attitudes and culture will truly bring about change.

"There is a sexist mindset, politicians have made silly remarks about women and how they should wear modest clothes, not go to parties ... if they make the laws how will it benefit us?" she asked. "People have to change the way they think."

India's Supreme Court will hear a petition Thursday asking it to suspend all lawmakers who face charges for crimes against women. The petition was filed in the aftermath of the brutal gang rape, which sent thousands of outraged protesters to the streets for days.

"This unfortunate episode has galvanized the nation," said Jagdeep S. Chhokar, an official with the Association for Democratic Reforms, which tracks political candidates' criminal records.

Chhokar said six Indian state lawmakers are facing rape charges in unrelated cases, and two people in the federal parliament are also facing charges of crimes against women that fall short of rape.

The group says that in the past five years, political parties across India have nominated 260 candidates facing charges of crimes against women such as assault and outraging the modesty of a woman.